The oldest passenger plane still in service flies from Edinburgh

MARGARET Thatcher was Prime Minister, Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, John McCarthy was captured in Beirut - and the oldest passenger plane still in service in the UK began operating.
G-CELH, the oldest passenger plane in operation in the UK. Picture WikicommonsG-CELH, the oldest passenger plane in operation in the UK. Picture Wikicommons
G-CELH, the oldest passenger plane in operation in the UK. Picture Wikicommons

The aircraft - G-CELH - was registered 31 years ago in 1986 and still flies daily to detinations around Europe from Edinburgh, operated by Jet2.

You can see where the the Boeing 737-330 has been travelling recently hereAnd despite its age, its flights have been thankfully without incident.

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An article in the Telegraph dug out the info and reassuringly quoted Patrick Smith, a US pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential, to put minds at rest. “Commercial aircraft are built to last more or less indefinitely, which is one of the reasons why they’re so expensive,” he said.

“It’s common for a jet to remain in service for 25 years or more.”

The Edinburgh plane also has to go some way to claim the spot as the world’s oldest commercial airliner in the skies.

That honour rests with a Boeing 737-200, with the serial number 20335, which made its maiden flight for Air California in 1970.